Alex Rodriguez's appeal of his 211-game suspension by Major League Baseball will heard by an arbitrator beginning Sept. 30, one day after the scheduled end of the regular season, Newsday.com reported Friday.

The newspaper cited a source familiar with the hearing.

Alex Rodriguez reportedly will be able to spend the rest of the season on the field. (AP Photo)

Rodriguez and Major League Baseball will present their cases to independent arbitrator Frederic Horowitz, who will then decide whether to uphold, overturn or reduce Rodriguez's penalty for violating baseball's Joint Drug Agreement with the players association.

The sides met Wednesday for a preliminary hearing, according to Newsday's source, and exchanged documents as part of the arbitration hearing's discovery phase. Newsday reported earlier this week that a meeting was scheduled.

The Sept. 30 start to the hearing ensures that the New York Yankees third baseman will be able to play through the regular season and, if the Yankees qualify, the start of the postseason. The hearing could last several days; Horowitz will then have up to 25 days to make his decision, Newsday reports. That means a ruling could come sometime in late October, around the end of the World Series.

Rodriguez was one of 13 players suspended on Aug. 5 following baseball's probe into the now-closed Biogenesis anti-aging clinic in Miami. The clinic is accused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs to numerous players, including Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was the only player to appeal his suspension, and he continues to play as the process unfolds.